: The main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir assembly PDP on Monday took out a procession here in protest against the alleged failure of the NC-led coalition government to check human rights violations and price hike of essential commodities.
About 400 activists of PDP, led by senior party leader Tariq Hamid Karra, took out a procession from party headquarters at Sher-e-Kashmir Park around noon.
They crossed the barricade, set up by police outside the party headquarters to prevent the procession, and marched towards Press enclave in the heart of the city, a distance of nearly half a kilometer.
The march was peacefully concluded in an hour.
Protests during budget session in Jammu and Kashmir
The budget session of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature began on a stormy note on Monday with the opposition members raising slogans against the government for its failure to deliver.
As soon as Governor NN Vohra began to address the joint session of the state legislature, the main opposition members were on their feet, charging the 14-month-old Omar Abdullah government with failure on all fronts. “Innocents are being killed,” the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members shouted, while pointing towards the seats where Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his cabinet colleagues were seated.
The PDP members, led by their legislature party leader and president Mehbooba Mufti, staged a noisy demonstration, accusing the government of violating human rights.
They were referring to the incidents of violence in the Kashmir Valley and the killing of a youth by security forces.
The other major opposition group, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 11 members, charged the Omar Abdullah government of playing ball with separatist elements and compromising national security. They were angry over the recently announced surrender policy that envisages the return of youth from Pakistan administered Kashmir, and offering them both physical and economic rehabilitation.
“This was an assault on the Indian nation,” BJP’s legislature party leader Chaman Lal Gupta said.
Later, all the BJP legislators boycotted the governor’s address.
Jammu was locked down by security personnel for the start of the budget session.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti Monday accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of enforcing a “bullet for stone” policy in dealing with the law and order situation in the Kashmir Valley.
The PDP leader said that it was for the first time that any state government had resorted to such a “brutal” policy, where protesters throwing stones were being met with bullets in the streets of Kashmir.
“We had heard of bullet for bullet policy, but it is for the first time that we are seeing bullet for stone policy. That’s unheard of,” Mehbooba told reporters after coming out of the state legislature, where she raised the issue of human rights violations and alleged that innocents were being killed.
The state assembly began its budget session in this winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir Monday.
She justified the anger of people who threw stones at security personnel in the Valley, saying: “People are angry with this government because it has failed in delivering the promises it had made to the people.”
Mehbooba warned that such a policy would “further alienate the youth of Kashmir”.
The PDP leader said that it was unfortunate that the government instead of “mending its ways” was trying to suppress the voice on streets with “brutality”.
In some cases, the Jammu and Kashmir government has slapped charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA) against stone-throwers. Under PSA, a person can be detained for up to 2 years with no reason being given for the detention. Under PSA, a person can be charged with waging war against the state, a crime punishable with death or life in jail.